Smoking articles

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a smoking article comprising a rod of smoking material having two or more channels, for instance tubes, of small cross section extending substantially longitudinally of the rod from near the mouthend to points short of the other end, at least two of the said channels being of different lengths. The smoking article may have a smoke filter against which the channels substantially abut.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,863,644 4 Hunt Feb, 4,1975

[ SMOKING ARTICLES 3,674,036 7/1972 Vega 131/10 A x 3,756,249 9 i973 S 1k 1. l3 9 [751 Inventor: g i g Southampton, 3,773,053 11/1973 Sfep he ri: 131/10 A X 11 an g FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Assgnee 687,136 5/1964 Canada 131/8 R Cmlmmmna Loulsvllle, 275,420 5/1951 Switzerland 131/8 R [22] Filed: Oct. 6, 1972 I Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell [21] Appl' 295,453 Assistant Examiner-John F. Pitrelli Attorney, Agent, or FirmFinnegan, Henderson, [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Farabcw & Garrett 19 G B' 4 2 7 Oct 21 71 reat ntain 90 3/ 1 A S RAC [52] US. Cl. 131/9, 131/4 B, 131/10 A The invention e a es to a smoking article comprising [51] Int. Cl A24d 01/02 a rod of king m erial having two or more chan- [58] Field of S arch 131/4 R, 4 B, 7, 3 R, 16, nels', for instance tubes, of small cross section extend- 131/9, 2, 6, 10 A, 13, 14, 10.5 ing substantially longitudinally of the rod from near the mouthend to points short of the other end, at least [56] References Cit d two of the said channels being of different lengths. UNITED STATES PATENTS The smoking article may have a smoke filter against 29,436 7/1860 Lindsley 131/4 B ux whlch the Chamels substamauy abut 346,025 7/1886 Cook 131/8 R 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures a van SMOKING ARTICLES The invention concerns improvements relating to smoking articles, particularly but not exclusively ciga- Closely disposed tubes 4 may form an assembly, of subshown in FIG. 4, or one-near the central axis and the other near the circumference as shown in FIG. 5.

More than two tubes 4 may be employed, provided I that at least two of them are of different lengths.

rettes. It seeks to obtain, by simple means, a reduction paper material with a sealed longitudinal seam proin the total delivery, and/or a more uniform delivery, of ducted With a composition Which is itself an acceptable particulate matt r, smokable composition consisting of 76 percent chalk, According to the invention, a smoking article com- 5 percent to ac XtraCt, 2 percent glycerol and 7 prises a rod of smoking material having two or more P ent odium carboxymethyl cellulose, by weight. channels of small cross section extending substantially l0 This Composition, P p ih Sheet form, may be longitudinally of the rod from near the mouthend to made into a P2115te y dissolving it in a little Waterpoints short of the other end, at least two of the said he Cigarettes used for the following Examples were channels being of different lengths. Generally the substantially as shOWn in FlGS- l and the tubes 4 smoking material will comprise natural or reconstituted themselves being made in the anner just described. tobacco, but it may comprise a tobacco substitute. A tobacco rod may be wrapped in paper in conventional EXAMPLE l manner. The article may be provided with a smoke fil- T tubes f 40 mm d 30 mm length respectively in known manner. and 1.3 mm diameter were incorporated in the tobacco The channels of different lengths may be provided by d f 65 mm hang-thy f a cigarette. o smoking the tubes. The tubes may be of the same or different diamecigarette to a butt length of 23 mm under standard conters, the internal diameter being within the range of 0.1 ditions of one puff per minute of 35 ml volume and 2 to 4 mm. The tubes may be made ofa combustible nonseconds duration the following yields of total particutoxic material such as paper, a cellulosic material, tolate matter (TPM) per puff were obtained.

Puff N0. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sum Yield (mg) 2.9 2.5 3.0 3.3 3.7 3.1 3.1 2.6 24.2

bacco sheet or the like, or of a synthetic smokable com- A comparable normal filter cigarette when smoked position such as is referred to below. to a butt length of 23 mm in eight puffs gave yields of A cigarette in accordance with the invention may be TPM which increased with successive puffs, the sum of produced on a conventional cigarette-making machine the yields being about mg. The sum of 24.2 reprewhich has been modified for inserting the tubes or assents a reduction of about 3] percent. sembly of tubes in the tobacco rod.

One embodiment of the invention by way of example 35 EXAMPLE 2 and possible modifications are illustrated in the accomone (if the two liibss a of 40 mm length and panying diagrammatic drawing, i i mm diameter and the other of 30 mm length and 0.5 FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section through a cigarette him diamelelon smoking the Cigarette Under the Stan provided with i i l tubes, dard conditions, the following yield of TPM per puff FIG. 2 is a cross section on the line n n in FIG. 1, 40 were Obtained- Puff No. l 2 3 4 5 e 7 s 9 10 Sum Yield (mg) 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.6 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.2 20.0

and In this case, the TPM yields levelled out with increas- FIGS. 3 to 5 are similar cross sections illustrating aling puff number. As compared with a sum yield of ternative dispositions ofthe tubes. about 40 mg in 10 puffs for a comparable normal filter The cigarette illustrated comprises, in aconventional cigarette, a reduction in the sum TPM of percent arrangement, a tobacco rod 1 in a paper wrapper 2 and 50 was obtained. a cellulose-acetate filter plug 3. Open-ended tubes 4 of the same diameter, but different lengths extend longitudinally through the tobacco rod 1. At their inner ends, EXAMPLE 3 they abut or substantially abut against the inner end of Two tubes, of 40 mm and 30 mm length and 1.3 mm the filter plug 3. Their outer ends are located short of diameter were used. The per-puff yields of TPM were the outer end of the tobacco rod 1. as follows:

Puff No. l 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sum Yield (mg) 2.2 2.0 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.4 2.2 21.6

Instead of being disposed closely side by side near to The reduction in the sum TPM was 46 percent in or at the central axis of the tobacco rod 1 as shown in comparison with a normal filter cigarette. Even with 10 FIG. 2, the two tubes 4 may be located at or near the puffs, there was no material increase in the' yield per circumference, for example either closely side by side puff for the later puffs. as shown in FIG. 3 or at diametrically remote points as The results obtained in these Examples and other tests confirm that relatively uniform or level yields of TPM per puff are obtained as well as a reduction in the sum of such yields. The pressure drop of cigarettes in which the tubes are incorporated is not materially affected. For the cigarettes of the above Examples, the pressure drop was about 10.5 cm water gauge as against 12.9 cm for a comparable normal filter cigarettef The presence of the tubes reduces the volume of tobacco or other smoking material required to produce cigarettes of given external dimensions. In the case of the above Examples, the tobacco reduction amounted to about 3 percent.

A possible explanation of the effect achieved by the provision of the tubes as described above is as follows:

It is known that part of the condensate from each puff of a cigarette is retained by the remaining tobacco through which it passes, producing an uneven yield of condensate per puff over the puffs normally obtained per cigarette. If, however, a part of the condensate from the first two or three puffs passes through tubes directly to the cigarette filter, two results follow:

a. As this part passes directly to the filter and is not retained by the tobacco, the yield of condensate from the early puffs will be slightly higher than from a comparable filter cigarette without the tubes.

b. The remaining tobacco thereafter burnt will be less highly contaminated with condensate and a lower sum yield of condensate will be obtained.

I claim:

1. A smoking article comprising a rod of smoking material and a filter at one end of said rod, at least two combustible tubes of small cross section. open at each end, and extending longitudinally through the rod of smoking material from points closely adjacent the filter to points short of the end of the rod of smoking material opposite the filter, said tubes being of different lengths, the ends of said tubes located at the end of the rod opposite said filter being positioned at such different distances from said rod end so that a programmed air ventilation effect is achieved whereby during the initial puffs a mixture of air and tobacco smoke is delivered through the tubes providing a delivery of a higher TPM smoke to the filter than that which would be delivered in the initial puffs during smoking of the same tobacco column without inclusion of the tubes, and during successive puffs, the ratio of air to tobacco smoke in said mixture is increased as the fire cone moves through the tobacco rod to the ends of the tubes.

2. A smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the tubes is disposed near the central axis of the rod.

3. A smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the tubes is disposed near the circumference of the rod.

4. A smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tubes have a longitudinal seam sealed by a combustible material. 

1. A smoking article comprising a rod of smoking material and a filter at one end of said rod, at least two combustible tubes of small cross section, open at each end, and extending longitudinally through the rod of smoking material from points closely adjacent the filter to points short of the end of the rod of smoking material opposite the filter, said tubes being of different lengths, the ends of said tubes located at the end of the rod opposite said filter being positioned at such different distances from said rod end so that a programmed air ventilation effect is achieved whereby during the initial puffs a mixture of air and tobacco smoke is delivered through the tubes providing a delivery of a higher TPM smoke to the filter than that which would be delivered in the initial puffs during smoking of the same tobacco column without inclusion of the tubes, and during successive puffs, the ratio of air to tobacco smoke in said mixture is increased as the fire cone moves through the tobacco rod to the ends of the tubes.
 2. A smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the tubes is disposed near the central axis of the rod.
 3. A smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the tubes is disposed near the circumference of the rod.
 4. A smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tubes have a longitudinal seam sealed by a combustible material. 